I came across an article last week that made me really irrate.The article, published in the New York Times online, claimed that a "large study" found a link between drinking four or more cups of coffee a day and a reduction in the risk of endometrial cancer for women.
Basically, the study claimed that women who drank at least 4 cups of coffee a day had a lower risk of developing uterine cancer compared to women who had less that one cup of coffee a day! Let me rephrase that; ingesting over 1000mg/day of cafffeine is seen as potentially beneficial to women's health???
Yet, the general consensus among the medical commuity is that 4+ cups of coffee can be detrimental to your phyical and mental health. Let's remind us that notwithstanding caffeine's deleterious effects on the body, numerous studies have conclusively showed a link between excessive caffeine intake and anxiety and panic disorders. There is even evidence that caffeine contributes to heart attacks, which means that it has the potential to kill. So, my question is the following; Does cancer really matter when the health of your heart is in jeopardy?
I would take this finding with a grain of salt because on the one hand the researchers merely point to a link between high caffeine intake and reduced risk of endometrial cancer, which is not similar to saying that one causes the other. On the other hand, the percentage of risk reduction for uterine cancer is only 25% for caffeine drinkers out of a total number of 67,470 participants. Furthermore, the researchers themselves refrained from drawing any conclusion about whether caffeine or other ingredients in caffeine causes this effect.
So, my advice would be to keep a critical mind to everything one reads.
Jazzie
Living with Anxiety
Link to the article referenced in the post:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/health/research/four-daily-cups-of-coffee-may-cut-cancer-risk-in-women.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss